Did Brown jump, or was he pushed?

Brown's moment of triumph, Gillard signs the article of unconditional surrender by the ALP to the Greens.

In the wake of the 2010 federal election there was some speculation that Greens leader Bob Brown would be replaced by Christine Milne. The influx of a newer, more Bolshie generation of hard liners was always likely to spell trouble for Bob, who despite his determination to put a stop to the evil creation of wealth and prosperity, tended to be seen as relatively sane in some circles.

Now at the midpoint of the current parliament Bob has resigned the leadership and will retire from the Senate in June. This brings to mind the deals, which were done in the past between Hawke and Keating, and between Howard and Costello, neither of which were honored.

During this term Brown has become increasingly bizarre with calls for the destruction of the coal industry, the submission of the Australian population to a world government, and shutting down anything that is not ‘sustainable’ from his blinkered and dour point of view. It is not certain whether this was the result of a swing further to the left by the party, or a revelation of the ‘real Bob Brown’ as result of obtaining the balance of power, thanks to Liberal Party preferences.

In a recent speech, ‘the third annual Green oration’ better known as the ‘Fellow Earthians’ speech, he went completely off the deep end with renewed calls for world government, a mixture of capitalism and communism, and goals of Economy, Equality, Ecology and Eternity. He also claimed that the reason why aliens from other galaxies have not contacted him is that they have ‘extincted’ themselves by destroying their planets.

The speech was greeted with enthusiastic applause at the time, however subsequent press coverage ridiculed him and has possibly hastened his demise.